Peace
by Pen Sil
Summary: "To the organized mind death is but the next great adventure."


**Peace**

* * *

Light

... that was the first thing that occurred to her. There was light _everywhere_. Inside her. Around her. Warming her and yet... keeping her surprisingly cool.

There was no pain anymore.

... that was the second thing that occurred to her. She was sure she had been hurt, that her very soul had ached with pain. Because... something precious had been ripped from her. No... not something. Someone. She'd seen it. It had happened right in front of her. And she had tried to stop it. Which had made the pain so much more excruciating. But for the life of her... she couldn't remember what had happened. Or who had been lost...

life...

That was the third thing that occurred to her. She wasn't alive anymore.

Like her father... like her mother so long ago.

And then... she was suddenly standing on a grassy field filled with shining white flowers. Above her there should have been a blue sky... but there was only light. Before her was a stone...

_Layla Heartfilia_, it read.

But as she stared that it the words changed.

Suddenly the words were saying _Lucy Heartfilia._

And it occurred to her who she was, what had happened.

... and who was missing.

Spinning on the spot she searched for rosy hair and a bright smile. But for a long time there was no one...

Lucy sat there for a long while, just staring out into the shining hills. She hoped that Rogue had not succeeded in killing her former self, that that future would be a safer place. That _he_ would not die this time.

He had touched her forehead, he had smiled at her. Tentatively Lucy lifted her hand to her head, as if trying to give birth to the feeling that filled her heart whenever he touched her, whenever he grinned at her. Just like that time when he had first rescued her.

Her heart ached with the feeling of loss, now that had at least been reborn into this world that came after life. Whatever it was. Solitude?

The pain grew a little worse. She hadn't truly been alone for a very long time.

Unconsciously Lucy clenched her right hand for her thoughts had turned to Fairy Tail. Master... he had died... Laxus had not. Lucy knew he would survive. He would try to gather those that had survived. He had changed so much, and though she had not grown up with him she felt pride in what he had become.

Lucy wondered briefly what had become of Mavis, but figured that since the guild had been obliterated the First had moved on as well. Then her thoughts turned to Erza and Gerard. She had last seen them in rough battle, both mages urging her to do whatever she could to prevent this; she was the only one who could open the port after all...

Closing her eyes she felt for her magic. Maybe she could ascend into the spirit world. Loki would have survived this. He would know what had happened.

But no... she was dead. She would not become a spirit. She had failed them, after all.

Shaking her head she thought about Levy and Gajeel. Those two... Levy had been so close to telling him and it was so terrible that they had not reached the happiness that they deserved - after all they had gone through. And Gajeel had died defending Levy, he had left her. Just like -

But no... at least Lucy would see him soon. The tragedy had ended, for her, this time. And now she only had to wait...

But Levy... Levy was still stuck in the middle of the horror - the one horror story she would not like. Alone in that almost unpopulated world. And Lucy had left her behind. What a terrible way to be a best friend.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she sobbed.

_no!_

She had no right to cry. She had no right to sit here and feel hopeless. Angrily Lucy rubbed her tears away. She had to find a way to where everyone was. Otherwise she would grow mad, she was certain of it. Now was the time to show herself that she would not let death defeat her.

So she rose and looked around again. Hills of grass, swaying in a wind that wasn't truly there, seemed to repeat themselves, but there was nowhere else for her to go. No one else to go to. So she just started walking.

There was no sun in the sky so Lucy had no idea for how long she walked. Her stamina never wavered, her body never grew tired. But her mind she had trouble controlling. It kept wandering to melancholia and sorrow and she kept forcing it away for she was sure to give up if she continued down that road.

And then suddenly...

"Lucy!"

The world seemed to spin around her and suddenly he came into sight.

He was wearing white. Dress shirt and pants, even shoes. It made his dark eyes stand out and his pink hair seemed to be the only colour in this strange world. And his grin... it shone with the intensity of his fire, and just like that... it burned away her sorrow.

Or it might have intensified it... for her legs gave way and she fell to the ground and started to sob.

In a rush of steps and rustling clothes Natsu was at her side, a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said and his words seemed to fall out of his mouth, like a waterfall that would not stop. "I'm sorry for leaving you stuck in limbo like this, but the afterlife is in chaos - not that I usually mind chaos, but this is-" he bit his tongue and tried again "- there are so many dead on this side and everything is really messed up so it's hard to find out who you're supposed to meet and where the door is and stuff. I'm really sorry for leaving you here."

As he ranted on Lucy found time to ground herself. She felt the warmth of his fire - it had not been extinguished by death like her magic, and she wondered how much of him was actually dragon - and smell the familiar scent of earth and magic and a good fight coming from him. It felt like home and sunshine and laughter.

... she could suddenly relax again.

Sagging against him Lucy buried her nose in his shirt. "You're clean."

Natsu snorted a laugh and pulled her closer. "Yeah. I don't particularly like it. Trust me. At first sight of Gajeel I'm starting a fight."

"He must be worried out of his mind," she muttered into his shirt. "Levy is still alive."

He swore. "No fight then. Gray?"

"Alive. Last time I saw him. As well as Juvia."

"Well...I think she would crawl back into life if she had to," he said, voice dry. and she knew what he was thinking; _that girl is stroking his ego too much._

It made her laugh, the pictures of that awkward couple that had developed some type of strange relationship throughout their strange adventures.

Her laughter seemed to relax him. "Lucy? Are you done hiding from me?"

It made her chuckle again and she leaned back, smiling at him for what seemed the first time in eons. "Thank you for coming to get me," she said and his grin reignited.

"I knew I couldn't leave it to anyone else," Natsu said and his smile turned into a smirk. Her cheeks heated. He would know, wouldn't he? "So?" he added.

"Hm?"

He fell back onto the ground and watched her expectantly. "So? What adventures did you have without me? I know you had one, don't keep the stories from me."

Grinning back she mirrored him and told him what had happened since the great black dragon and taken his life. She told him everything and kept nothing back. She was sure she even cried at one point, but it did nothing to the look on his face. Watching him as she spoke Lucy realised that Natsu had never truly been at peace, not while she had known him. There had been too many unanswered questions and he had never truly been sure whether he would be forced to leave Fairy Tail at some point to go look for his father - a choice he had never wanted to make; it would have been truly painful for him. Now he did not have that problem anymore and with it he had reached a peace of mind that he had missed.

The revelation made her heart beat with pride and happiness for him. It was the most important thing.

When she finished she mimicked his earlier inquiry. He immediately knew what she meant. He told her. Why the dragons had attacked, why his father - and Gajeel's father, and Wendy's mother - had left, heck, even why Zeref had been so involved in everything and yet, had never been truly involved at all.

And it all made sense... and it was a painful thing to know, but it made sense. And it had all been down to this.

"But there is one thing they won't tell me," he told her and then smiled brightly.

That didn't make sense. What was missing?

Hesitantly she asked him to explain.

"Your mother's death," he reminded her. "That part of the truth, is something you should learn. In reality it has nothing to do with me. But it's still important."

Lucy nodded. Yes, she could see that. But it did not truly matter. Not when he was present, safe. "What's on the other side?" she asked instead.

Natsu grinned and took her hand. "Do you really want to hear about it? Why not just go take a look for yourself?"

Pulling Lucy to her feet, he started leading her towards a nearby hill. A door had suddenly appeared there. "You always were better with actions than with words," she admitted. "But give me a hint anyway."

"Fine," he laughed, but did not say anything for a while.

When they reached it he twisted the knob and the door opened inwards.

Pulling her through he said one last word that would be hanging in the air of her soul's limbo for eternity; "Adventure."

* * *

"_To the organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."_

Albus Dumbledore.

* * *

Well, yeah, I've done stuff like this before but I just HAD to do it, when I realised that I could.

Newest chapter and all that...

Hope you enjoyed

- Pen

I OWN NOTHING

Edit: yeah... there were a lot of incorrect phrases and misspellings, but I wrote it at four in the morning so I think I'm excused. Anyway. I think they've all been corrected now.


End file.
